Monthly Review | July 2016

2nd August 2016

Somehow we’ve made it to August, and considering how rubbish 2016 has been so far I think that’s a pretty good achievement. It’s almost worth celebrating.

As a child I used to love August because August meant the summer holidays, but now I have to sit in an office everyday rather than going on adventures and enjoying the sun. At least the office has air conditioning.

Anyway, let’s crack on.

*Grabs One Line A Day journal to help jog memory*

What happened in June…

I had my first driving lesson in over a month, and surprisingly I hadn’t forgotten everything. Both myself and my instructor had been on holiday in June, hence the long break. I’m starting to feel much more confident on the roads but I definitely need to practice my manoeuvres to death before my test in September.

I got into baking again. I finally used my Portal cutters that Tyrone bought me for Christmas and attempted to ice the biscuits I baked. Honestly, for my first go I think I did pretty well. I also make cookies and muffins, and bookmarked a load of pages in my recipe book for inspiration.

I started a new project at work; my first big solo project. Honestly, I’ve found it more difficult that I expected but I have learned so much along the way. There have been days where I have wanted to throw my computer out of the window, but there have also been days when I have made real progress and have gone home with a smile on my face.

On the topic of work, I went go-karting for the first time on a staff night out and I had so much fun even though I was crap at it. It’s something I would love to try again though, and maybe, just maybe, I won’t come last!

On the not-so-positive side of things, I have a horrific dentist appointment that left me in tears. I have since been looking for another dentist and I’m hopefully going to be going back to a private one. Also, I received some rubbish news about The Who tour I had booked tickets for and so I chose to get a refund on my tickets. Needless to say I’m still gutted.

In August…

I’m off to Norway for a few days at the end of the month which I am incredibly excited about. I’m sure that will be the highlight of my month and I can’t wait to share a little about the trip on the blog.

I’m definitely going to go back to Shropshire this month. I said I would in July but it just didn’t happen. That’s life.

I’ve got a doctors appointment booked for the middle of the month, and the main purpose of this trip is to get a referral to see a consultant back at my old hospital in Shropshire. For some it might seem mad to travel all that way just to see a consultant, but that hospital is a specialist orthopaedic hospital and they might have some better ideas in terms of the treatment of my hip dysplasia.

I keep getting told that my hip hurts because the muscles are weak and I need to build them. Well, I’ve been working out like crazy recently and I’m still in pain, so yeah, I need more answers.

I’ve had to wait months for a specialist, and it’s pretty annoying when they are out of the area, too. I hope you get some more answers on treating your hip. It’s always annoying when you’re told something by a doctor and you simply don’t believe them because you’ve done what they’ve suggested and nothing is going right.

And I hope you find a good dentist!

I’m so anti-social when it comes to work, but I did enjoy when our team went for an escape room adventure. I wouldn’t be keen on a bigger group of people, though. We enjoyed the escape room a lot and I think we are going to try and make it a regular thing… On the other hand, I hope you improve with your go-karting skills. 8D

You say you have been working out – but have you been doing strength training – aka bodybuilding aka weight lifting? Some people mean cardio and the likes when they speak about working out. I’m asking because I know so many people who don’t really do serious weight lifting and who are kind of against it because they don’t want to “look like a body builder” (as if it’s that easy to achieve that). Also I think it takes a while before you’ll start feeling better because of the strength training. However, it’s good that you can see a specialist and maybe get some more help.

August 2016 is the month when I’ll finish (for now) working in the hospital and plan to start working in my husband’s IT business. Can’t wait!

Yes, I’ve been doing strength training focusing on my legs. I’ve got some weights that you can wear on your ankles so they’ve been helping to strengthen the muscles. I definitely don’t do anything cardio haha!

Oh wow! What an exciting change!

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I'm Holly and Empfire is my little slice of the internet where I share the various aspects of life that I am passionate about and that inspire me.